Wow! eBook
Theories of Ideology: The Powers of Alienation and Subjection: 54
Author(s): Jan Rehmann (Author)
- Publisher: Brill
- Publication Date: 25 July 2013
- Language: English
- Print length: 360 pages
- ISBN-10: 9004252304
- ISBN-13: 9789004252301
Book Description
How to explain the hegemonic stability of neoliberal capitalism even in the midst of its crises? The emergence of ideology theories marked a re-foundation of Marxist research into the functioning of alienation and subjection. Going beyond traditional concepts of ‘manipulation’ and ‘false consciousness’, they turned to the material existence of hegemonic apparatuses and focused on the mostly unconscious effects of ideological practices, rituals and discourses. Jan Rehmann reconstructs the different strands of ideology theories ranging from Marx to Adorno/Horkheimer, from Lenin to Gramsci, from Althusser to Stuart Hall, from Bourdieu to W.F. Haug, from Foucault to Butler. He compares them in a way that a genuine dialogue becomes possible and applies the different methods to the ‘market totalitarianism’ of today’s high-tech-capitalism.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“[…] Rehmann’s comprehensive historical account of ideology provides the most insightful and exquisite illumination of the term ideology today.” – Thomas Klikauer, University of Western Sydney, Australia, in: Capital & Class 39/3, 550-554
“[…] this book provides a good overview of the historical development of various major accounts of ideology” – Michael Morris, in: Marx & Philosophy
“This book’s treatment is the best introduction we have to the complicated notion of ideology. It provides the most sophisticated yet subtle analyses of how hegemony operates in our time. Jan Rehmann has given us a marvelous gift.” – Cornel West, Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice, Union Theological Seminary
“Part of a larger movement of boldly reconceptualizing Marxism in and for the 21st century, Rehmann offers a philosophically self-conscious rethinking of ideology. Based on critical surveys of other important theories (especially those emerging from Gramsci and Althusser) he explores how and why ideology shapes society, how society shapes the conscious and unconscious parts of ideologies, and how this applies to current phenomena such as neoliberalism, the capitalist crisis since 2007, and the tea party movement.” – Richard D. Wolff, University of Massachusetts
“My own intellectual and political conviction is that we need the concept of ideology all the more urgently today, when its use has been stigmatized by contemporary philosophy. Rehmann’s book provides a detailed and indispensable account of its history, the various modern versions of the concept and the debates which have swirled around it: just what we need to make a new beginning!” – Fredric Jameson, Duke University
“[…] this book provides a good overview of the historical development of various major accounts of ideology” – Michael Morris, in: Marx & Philosophy
“This book’s treatment is the best introduction we have to the complicated notion of ideology. It provides the most sophisticated yet subtle analyses of how hegemony operates in our time. Jan Rehmann has given us a marvelous gift.” – Cornel West, Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice, Union Theological Seminary
“Part of a larger movement of boldly reconceptualizing Marxism in and for the 21st century, Rehmann offers a philosophically self-conscious rethinking of ideology. Based on critical surveys of other important theories (especially those emerging from Gramsci and Althusser) he explores how and why ideology shapes society, how society shapes the conscious and unconscious parts of ideologies, and how this applies to current phenomena such as neoliberalism, the capitalist crisis since 2007, and the tea party movement.” – Richard D. Wolff, University of Massachusetts
“My own intellectual and political conviction is that we need the concept of ideology all the more urgently today, when its use has been stigmatized by contemporary philosophy. Rehmann’s book provides a detailed and indispensable account of its history, the various modern versions of the concept and the debates which have swirled around it: just what we need to make a new beginning!” – Fredric Jameson, Duke University
About the Author
Jan Rehmann, Dr. phil. habil, teaches philosophy and social theories at Union Theological Seminary in New York and the Free University in Berlin. He is co-editor of the Historical-Critical Dictionary of Marxism (HKWM) and author of books on ideology, Neo-Nietzscheanism, Max Weber, the churches in Nazi Germany, and poverty.
